A small "soundtrack" which when played again and again gives the impression of an "endless" track is called as a loop. Loops are very important at discos and other events. You can mix two loops to create a new one, and then mix it again with another to create yet another one. Loops can enable you to add you own "signature" to the event. You can have your own unique style for the creation and playback of your loops. Loops are very easy to create and use, but if you're one without a heavy wallet (like me) then they can become a pain in the neck. Hey! Don't get disheartened! Where there's a DJ, there's a way!
First of all, let us start by creating a simple loop. Every DJ has his/her own way of creating loops. I create mine in the form of layers. A layer consists of just one sound, but repeated two or three times. For example, let's take a beat in the first layer. The beat can be created using an MIDI software or a hardware synthesizer. To learn how to connect your synthesizer to your computer, please see the Hardware Help page. In our first layer, we will take 2 beats. You can take one instead of 2, but then you will have to put more time and effort into it. Using more than 2 beats can make it complicated. So, to begin, we'll take 2 beats and separate them by, say 0.5 seconds. You can do this by using an audio editing software.
Now we have to add the second layer. You can put anything in the second layer according to your choice, but remember that it must contain one kind of sound only, and the difference between the two successive sounds must be equal to the difference between the two sounds of the first layer. For example, let us take a drum as the sound for our second layer. The difference between the two drums in the layer must be 0.5 seconds. Now that we have made the second layer, we have to add this to the first layer. This can be achieved by mixing the second layer to the first layer at an appropriate point. For example, we can add the drum layer to the first layer at the point where the first beat ends. It will match perfectly (since the time interval of successive elements of both layers is same) and behold! We have made our loop! This loop can further be made complex by adding more and more sounds at regular intervals.
A word of caution, though. When you edit the loop, make sure that the loop begins exactly as the audio file is played, i.e. there is no silence at the beginning of the track, and the time difference between the last sound of the loop and the point where the loop ends is exactly equal to the time interval between the two sounds of any layer of the loop. If you follow this step, then your loop will be non-stop.
A big question is, what to do with your loop now that you've made it? I know most of you ( like me) cannot afford expensive equipment. So what we have to do is to improvise. First of all, when you burn the loop to a CD, don't add the usual 2 second gap between the tracks. Secondly, find out how much time your CD player takes to repeat the tracks i.e. how much time elapses before the end of the previous song and the start of the next one. You can then modify your loop accordingly by subtracting that amount of time from the end of the loop. After doing so, just pop the CD into the player and hit the repeat button. You're done!
As a rule of thumb, to play more than one loop you need more than one CD player (duh!). However, no such crises arises if you're using a computer. Also, remember that only those loops which have the same amount of time interval between the 2 sounds of any of their layers will match each other when played simultaneously. Such loops can be made to directly overlap each other, or one can be started after the other one at a suitable point.
The different layers of the loop don't necessarily have to have a same time interval. The time intervals of one layer can be a multiple of the time interval of the other layer. Also, different effects can be achieved by mixing the two layers at different points. However, make sure that all the layers of the loop have an appropriate volume. It is always a good idea to normalize them at 0 dB.
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